Helen
by Iceinherheart
Summary: "You okay?" "Sure. I just can't remember the last time the Oracle wanted to talk to me, you know, alone. The last two times, it's been nothing but bad news." "Well you know what that means. 'Third times the charm.'" "Yeah sure, Neo. I'll believe that when I see it."
1. A visit - and a cookie

"You should come in, child; it may put your mind at rest." The Oracle called to me from her kitchen. She was standing, as I had expected, by her glowing cooker; what I hadn't predicted however, was the cake tin that she held, she rather than the customary tray of cookies I had expected to have shoved in my face the moment she saw me. The small smile on her face was all joy, with no hint of sadness, but her dark eyes betrayed her, overflowing with the most intense grief. I tried not to imagine the future she had seen to put it there, and internally flinched at the idea that it could possibly have been my future she was seeing. "We may not have long before the real world calls you back."

I stepped forward from where I had been loitering in the hallway before she had been caught me - or perhaps she had always known I was there - pushing the beaded curtain out of the way with my hand, assuring that none would hit me in the face as I entered the room. As I dropped the beads back into place behind me, I straightened the sunglasses covering my blue eyes, and tucked my hands behind my back, out of the way. My dark hair had grown below my jaw line, mimicking my real hair that was getting far too long for my tastes and now tiggled at my neck where it curled, un-gelled. The Oracle chuckled at the hesitancy in my steps, and I was far too proud to admit even to myself that it bothered me.

"Come in, come in," She ushered, waving her oven gloves at me. "Why don't you take a seat, Trinity?"

I rolled my eyes behind my glasses, and swung myself up into my normal seat in the Oracle's kitchen, whenever I chose to sit. Perching on the counter top, I tilted my head at the old woman and waited for her to speak. She didn't – rather she placed her cake down on the side next to me, and turned to switch off and open the oven and pull – ah, the batch of cookies I had been anticipating, from the very bottom shelf. Chocolate fudge, I noticed, sniffing at the fragranced air, not caring if she saw me or not. She used the same recipe as the ones from my childhood memories, and she knew my weakness for them, which was no doubt the reason she had made them.

It was times like these I missed the Matrix.

"Careful," She warned as I plied on of the paler cookies from the offered tray with my now bare hands, my black gloves resting in the cross of my legs. "They're still hot." I hooked my sunglasses around one pinkie finger and tugged them off swiftly, fixing her with a very unimpressed glare, snapping my cookie in two as I did. She batted the air in front of me, laughing gently and I stuck a fraction of the cookie against my tongue, leaning back again, resting my head on the cupboard behind me that hung from the wall. "Oh, come now, you don't intimidate me."

"Why am I here?" I hummed, chewing at another snapped-off piece of cookie. "And why did you make me come alone?"

"Because I need to talk to you alone." She told me, pulling her chair up so she could sit opposite me, and she set the cookies on the cooling rack on the table. Going against what I expected yet again, she did not sit in the seat she had arranged, instead fishing a glass from one of her cupboards and filling it with cold water from the tap. "I have something to tell you - Something that will change the way you view everything, and that you can not, no matter what, you can not tell Neo." I nodded, watching her sit down opposite me. I split another bite of the cookie with my back teeth, melted fudge spilling out and over my tongue, burning hotly on the soft muscle.

"Shit!" I muffled my shocked yell by clamping my lips together tightly, pressing the back of my fist over them. The Oracle calmly offered the glass of water to me, and I snatched it from her, grateful and impatient. "Thanks." I felt compelled to add, sipping gently. With the burn subdued, not gone but something I could deal with, I handed the glass back.

"You knew I was going to do that, didn't you?" I asked, setting the last of my cookie aside, not particularly fancying a repeat experience. She nodded gently, draining the glass and setting it in the empty sink.

"I did warn you they where hot." She shrugged, sliding the cake beside me out of its tin and onto a plate, which she tucked into the fridge. "Sorry. It's my youngest's birthday tomorrow. Apparently all baking duties are mine." I nodded, uninterested. I cleared my throat and her eyes rose to mine. "Something wrong honey?" I huffed unhappily, not one for pet names.

"Why am I here?" I repeated more forcefully, crossing my arms across my chest, wobbling slightly in my awkward position. The Oracle sighed, her eyes downcast, as she sat back down in the seat opposite me again, her hand folded in her lap. She looked up at me.

"I have seen something, something that I believe that, while you'll regret hearing it, you deserve to know, and you will regret it if you don't hear it." The muscle in my cheek flexed involuntarily at bad news, so it seemed. It had been my future she'd seen. Fantastic.

"What did you see?" I asked, the words burning as they left my lips. I had no idea if I actually wanted to know at all – I felt sick to my stomach.

"Death." She told me seriously, folding her hands in her lap. "One of you will die. And you know that I'm not allowed to tell you who."

I lent my head back against the cupboards behind me again, the sickly feeling increasing tenfold. Me, Neo or Morpheus. Confused as I was as to why she was telling me, I understood now why she'd wanted to speak to me alone; if the three of us all knew, none of us would trust anything the others told them to do, paranoid that they would attempt to sacrifice themselves for the rest of us. Her telling me now might as well of been her signing my death certificate.

"How?" I croaked, slipping my sunglasses back on to hide behind the dark lenses. I had long since been able to control the expressions on my face, but my eyes where a different matter completely. They're only human part left of you, Switch had laughed at me once, jokingly, and I'd closed them, refusing to show her just how true that statement was.

"The humans still trapped within the Matrix, the 'blue pills' as you call them, are being attacked by a rogue program." She told me instead, watching my face for any hint of emotions. She would get none; I would make sure of that. "There are two ways to stop him." I nodded in understanding, ready to hear whatever she would say. "You can attempt to persuade the sister program of the Merovingian's wife to destroy it, or, the other option is to let Neo destroy it."

"Why do I get the feeling that that would be a mistake?" I asked.

"Because it would be." She closed her eyes momentarily, as if batting away moisture. She old lady was remarkably fond of Neo, for someone who kept giving him such terrible news. "It is a very old program, Trinity, and can only be destroyed by another program. If Neo tries, it will destroy him. And you must stop that from happening." I nodded again, understanding, dreading.

"The Merovingian's wife's sister?" I repeated. The image of the beautiful brunette woman that my mind supplied me with irritated me beyond belief, as did the woman herself, and I was weary of a duplicate. Mrs. Perfect could shove her head in a blender, for all I cared.

"Yes - she goes by the name of Helen." I snorted, my lips pulling up slightly as I stared her down.

"Helen? Helen and Persephone?" I clicked my tongue in amusement, rolling my eyes behind the sunglasses. "I think someone may have had an unhealthy obsession with Greek mythology."

The Oracle laughed at me. A loud happy laugh as her face spread into an even larger smile which, in turn, spread all the way up to her dark eyes. I stared at her, perplexed, trying to remember if I had ever laughed like that in my life, real or imaginary, or if I'd at least ever heard anyone laugh with such glee before, out in the hell we called home. I came up negative on both accounts.

"Oh Trinity," She gasped eventually, her hand reaching for mine. My skin appeared nearly translucent next to her's, which burnt with a warmth that I had never possessed. Morpheus did, Neo did, so did Link and Cas and Zee and Kid and Niobe and Councillor Hamann. Even Switch, Apoc, Tank, Dozer, Mouse and even goddamn Cypher had held that warmth when they where alive. It was just me, all alone in my cold little world. It was no wonder people had been calling me the ice queen for years. "I forget sometimes what a fantastic sense of sarcastic humour you have!" The Oracle continued, and my eyes snapped to her's. I snatched my hand from her's.

"Thanks." I said dully.

Still chuckling, she held a piece of paper out to me, atop a second cookie. I accepted both, unfolding the paper singlehanded as I set the cookie down beside the unfinished remains of my first. I snapped the small remaining piece in half, nibbling on it as I raised my eyes back to the older woman. "What's this?"

"You'll need it in a moment." She hummed thoughtfully. "Nothing helps cure negative emotions like something sweet, and you will be finished with your first one by the time you'll need it." I froze the movement of my jaw and tilted my chin down to my chest, glaring at her over the top of my glasses. She grinned.

"Not the cookie. The instructions."

"Oh those," She waved a hand at me, as if she'd forgotten that she'd given it to me. "They will lead you to the Merovingian. He will of course be with Persephone, who will eventually lead you to Helen. After that, it's up to you who will die." She said it so casually that I had to nod, choosing to ignore the last part as I slipped the refolded paper into the bust of my black cat suit, where I knew I wouldn't loose it. "I feel like I should warn you though, Trinity…" She trailed off, and my hand faltered on the zip of my suit.

"Warn me?" I asked through a mouthful of cookie and a clouded mind, as my hands fell into my lap. "Warn me about what?"

"Helen." The Oracle wrung her hands together, and her eyes wouldn't meet mine. "She will be… enamoured… with Neo." I swallowed, blinking at her. Enamoured? With Neo? Shit. I sunk my front teeth down into my tongue, counting to ten as my vision blurred before I let it go; the chocolate fudge aftertaste giving way to the taste of my blood.

"Like sister, like… well sister, I suppose." I volunteered, shrugging one shoulder. I reached blindly for the remains of my cookie but my hand slipped across the empty garnet tabletop. She was right, I had finished my first, I realised as I reached for my second. "And um… how do we… how can we convince Helen to help us?" I got out eventually, breathing deep through my nose and gripping my shaking hands together.

"Is that really the question you want to ask, Trinity?" She asked back, resting a gentle hand on my knee. I shook my head at her, grounding my back teeth together.

"No." I whispered harshly, my voice cracking. "But to ask anything else would be selfish, wouldn't it?"

"Ah, forget about selfish, kid. Neo choose you over the entire Zion population; being selfish is hardly something you have to worry about." She rolled her eyes at me again. My eyes widened as shock settled in with her words. "You'll have to ask him about that, it's hardly my placed to tell you." I shrugged, covering my mouth with my fist, biting down on my index finger. "Go on darling. Ask away." I shook my head.

"I don't know if I want to know." I whimpered. My stomach twisted within me, as I was somehow certain, not that I knew how I was, that I was completely justified in fearing the worst. She tugged at my hand until I slipped off of the countertop and fell into the chair opposite where her's had been originally. She turned back to face me again, finally at the same height as me and pulled my sunglasses off me again. She held my hands tightly, warming them, as she wiped at the tear tracks I was ignoring the best I could. Squashing down the sudden desire to pull away and flee the house, the city, the Matrix, I reached up to pinch the bridge of my nose, my eyes blurring instantly again. I forced the lump from my throat.

"Tell me." I whispered, staring down at my gloves on the floor. I had hoped it would come out like an order, how I normally sounded when I was inside the Matrix. Instead, I sounded exactly as I felt. I sounded scared. "Will he love her back?

"Something tells me, Sweetie, that you already know the answer to that." Her words, no matter how softly, reminded me of shrapnel; piercing but dull, forcing me to bleed out and bare the pain. "Would you be crying if you thought I would give you a negative answer?"

My neck weakened suddenly and my head lulled forward, my heart disintegrating in my chest. I gripped down on her hands, my pale knuckles aching at my grip. I needed to find someone to punch, I decided batting another tear from my eyelashes, before I hurt the old woman who had given me so much. With each deep breath I took, the Oracle's hands stroking across my spine lightly, I flicked the tears from my face, expelling the idea from my mind the way Ghost had taught me, the world began to centre itself. Suddenly unable to sit still, I bound to my feet and began to pace the small room. I turned back to the Oracle on my third lap.

"How long?

"Until you have to choose who dies?" Her eyes met mine, dancing around the issue. "27 hours."

27 hours? I starred up at the clock – that gave me until 5pm tomorrow. I had no idea what I had been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been that. More time? Days? Years? Sure, I'd been hoping, it would have been fantastic, but this was my life and nothing was ever as I expected it to be. The muscles of my abdomen contracted with a sudden stabbing pain and I doubled over, crying out in a humiliating yelp of panic and pain, my nearly green hands wrapping themselves around my midriff. I staggered to the sink and leaned over it, cautious of my rebelling stomach, the Oracle's rubbed softly at my back again. The whole situation reminded me of the first time I'd visited the Oracle. And every time I'd visited her since.

"Ah, Crap!"

We turned, both the Oracle and I, to face the intruder. Neo stood, halfway between facing us and the wobbling curtain of beads, one of his hands clasped over one of his eyes. He winced at us as he drew it away, the white of his right eye turning slightly red. "I always forget that's there." He shrugged.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the One.

"Hello Neo." The Oracle smiled at him, waving a hand at him to beckon him in. "Do come in." She added, knowing how clueless he could be at times.

"Sorry." He offered her a smile, stepping closer. "Morpheus asked me to check if you where done. We're pressed for time app- Trin? You okay?" He asked, stepping closer to me as he finally noticed me. I nodded, straightening, glad that I'd managed to kept my face tear-free. I wasn't so sure about the colour of my face though, if I was red, green or translucent. It didn't matter much, I supposed.

"Sure. You know what having these talks with our favourite fortune teller can do to a person." I dropped down to my knees to scoop my gloves off of the floor, avoiding his eyes as I turned to the Oracle. "Are we done?"

"I believe so." She told me, handing me back my glasses. "Good luck." I slipped them back over my eyes again and pulled my gloves over my cold hands. I gave her a short nod, snatched the offered cookie from her grip and turned to walk past Neo. I was halfway down the hall, having ducked under the beads, and tucking into my cookie when he caught up with me, his hand grasping at my elbow.

"Trin? What's up? What did she say?" His hand tightened and he tugged gently, pulling me closer.

"It doesn't matter. She just scrambled my brain a bit and I'm completely in over my head, but it's nothing I can't handle. You know what it's like talking to the woman." I looked up at him, gulping down the nausea. His eyes where always the most fantastic brown, always so loving, and to imagine that could one day, quite soon I was sure, it would be gone… my stomach rebelled against the two-and-a-bit cookies I'd eaten my way through and I shoved the remaining of the third into Neo's warm hands. He clasped at it and I turned my back on him, batting away tears.

"Trinity!" He snapped, clasping a hand down on my shoulder this time. I turned back.

"What?" I demanded in the same tone, dropping my hands down to my hips, a snarl sounding in my voice that hadn't been in his. It was far easier to be pissed off at him than it was to be totally smitten with him - I'd worked that out ages ago.

"What happened?"

"Just got some information on what I suppose will be our next mission: apparently we've got a rogue program on the loose, killing coppertops when and how he pleases." I dropped my arms to my sides, my internal organs twisting themselves together. Poor Neo. He was probably so confused, lost without understanding a word I was saying - as well as what I refused to say; he could have so much on his shoulders at times. "We have to talk to the Merovingian's wife's sist- Oh Goddamn it!"

"What?!" He hollered, panicking. I pulled the paper slip out of my suit again and handed it over to him, not bothering to re-zip it back up, it was only Neo, after all. "Trinity? What's this?"

"Instructions on how to find the Merovingian. Persephone will be with him apparently. And she can give us the ways and means to delete the rogue." I slipped under his arm, keeping my body as far away from his as possible as I could while I stared at the words on the page.

Hotel Le Meurice  
229 Rue de Rivoli  
75001 Paris, France  
16:15

"Well, I suppose we know where we're going next." He laughed against my hair, his eyes burning into the back of my head. I pushed out of his grip, my stomach flipping abnormally fast as my heart clenched simultaneously. The sudden sickness had returned. I started towards the door.

"Uh, Trin?" Neo called from behind me. He mimed pulling a zip up his front when I looked back at him, then pointed at my chest quickly. "You might want to… yah know. Zip?" I rolled my eyes, but pulled it up anyway.

"I don't need you to tell me to dress myself Neo." I snapped. "What did you think I was going to do, go in there and give Morpheus and anyone else who's there a show? I'm not stupid!"

His palms went up and out, as if he was defending himself from my words like they where the bullets that he stopped on a daily biases. His eyebrows drew together and his mouth pulled down; I refused to check his eyes because I already knew how dark they would be if I had the courage too.

"Sorry." He whispered, stepping closer. His hands settled on my waist and he tugged, pulling me into him; he nestled his head in the crook of my neck, and brushed his lips over the skin of my throat, teeth snagging my exposed jugular vein. "I suppose I don't like the idea of sharing you." I shifted, wrapping my arms around his waist under his long coat and leaning into his warmth, ignoring the suffocating panic that told me the safety that accompanied Neo's love would not be mine for very much longer. "You're mine, Trinity." I pinched him sharply. Yes, I am, always, I thought as my throat closed up uncomfortably, but I wish I could kid myself that you would always be mine as well.

Something tells me you won't be for very much longer.

"I am no-one's, least of all yours." I chuckled instead, dropping my head forward onto his shoulder, refusing to let the pain in my knotting stomach seep into my manner.

"Whatever you say, Trin." He laughed gently into my ear. "Come on we have to talk to Morpheus - before we give Link a show." He untangled himself from me and started towards the living room, where Morpheus was waiting for us. He caught my hand in his as I jogged to catch up with his large strides. Damn tall people.

"That's my line." I grumbled, falling into step beside him easily.

* * *

Righty-o. I'm not too sure on this. But then, this is the first time I've written in the first person. Not to sure if Trin's in character or not, but then, I don't think anyone's going to be reading this, so that's fine by me, I suppose.

This is far too long for something for me to have written, and I've been working on this for AGES, and I had to get this idea out SOMEHOW!

Dx


	2. Unplugged

Thank you all so much for the reviews! I never expected them, and I love you all for them!  
Big thank you to FuturisticDreams, because she's brilliant and I don't think I would have posted this _here_ if it wasn't for her. (This is also up on AO3, and it's a chapter ahead than I am here.)

* * *

The Nebuchadnezzar _mark II_ was always freezing, just like its predecessor, but the second-in-command's quarters where by far warmer than the other cabins in the hovercraft, being directly next to the boiler room. The captain's room was on the opposite side of the boiler room, because the genius designers had decided that warmer commanding officers would clearly make the crew more efficient. The morons. But still, I remembered the one night that we'd tried sleeping in Neo's cold room and not only had we nearly frozen to death, but we'd seriously underestimated the size of the smaller bed and I'd woken up well and truly squashed under Neo's heavier weight. We'd migrated to my larger, warmer room and had never given thought to returning since.

My dark hair dripped cold water onto my warmed skin and I dropped my thick towel onto the floor, wiping the cover of dust off the mirror. The hot water in the pipes in the walls left over from my shower heated the room, as did the heat already in my skin from the warm water, so standing unclothed for a small period of time would be bearable. After that, I had to be careful that i wouldn't freeze to death.

My pale body was still littered with even paler scars that I was sure would never disappear, only fade after many years, left over from the many – _three_ _at least_, judging by the patches that littered my stomach, arms and chest - polls that had pierced my body almost a year ago; the Logos crash had killed me – and effectively ended the war. The Oracle had made sure to tell me since that the war would never have ended if I had still been alive, that Neo would not have been able to do what he had had to do if I had still been alive. The machine's peace offering had to been to deliver Neo back to Zion, his sight returned to him, alive. And he'd led them to me, so I'd heard - and it was surprising just how many people I'd had to remind that I had no idea what had actually transpired, being dead and all - and Zion's advanced medics had taken care of me. It was four months after I'd woken up, already itching to get going, that they'd allowed me back in the Matrix, supervised, and an extra three months before they'd let me out of the hospital. In my eighth month, they'd given me the all clear, and my well timed comment of _It takes longer to make a human than it does to bring one back from the dead_ had had Neo in some odd juncture between giggles and sobs for hours after. We'd bickered playfully over the statement all the way home.

I stared at the scars. They weren't my first scars, not by a long shot, but they where defiantly my ugliest. My other scars reminded me I was still alive. These one just reminded me that I had died.

And worse: They reminded Neo that I had died.

I caught him sometimes, when he thought I was asleep or not looking, staring at the scars like they haunted him. He would often run his gentle fingers over them when he swaddled me up tightly in between our thin blankets and his warm arms; more often than not paying explicit attention to the larger ones on my abdomen which had taken my life, and told me repeatedly told me that they could never change how beautiful I was, that he was glad to have his sight back, if only because he could see me again, and that he loved me more than anything. I used to believe him. I wished I still could.

I scooped my hairbrush off of the bed and ran it through the still knotted stands at the back of my head, minding my brain-jack as I traced the small engraved butterflies on the handle with my thumb. While butterflies didn't exist outside the Matrix, they had become renowned as a symbol of freedom in Zion. It had been a gift, technically, left in one of the baskets outside our apartment in Zion, the small note attached to it read only '_For your lady-friend'_ in a child's handwriting.

Three days later, when we'd left Zion last time, it had fallen from my bag as I'd stepped into the lift, and a child had plucked it up before I'd even registered that it was gone. She had fantastic red locks that curled to her waist, tied back in a high ponytail, and bright green eyes. She giggled as she offered it to me, and I noticed the lack of plugs on her arms.

"Do you like it?" She asked as I took it from her. I gripped it tightly in my right hand and pressed it to the cloth over my heart. Surprisingly for everyone who knew me, it had very quickly become one of my most treasured possessions.

"Yes. I try to keep it in the best condition I can. I don't want to break it. It's special to me, ya know? It's not often people give me such beautiful things." I smiled at her as gently as I was capable of, crouching down beside the girl. She stepped forward, and out of the blue, threw her arms around my throat.

"Do you like the pretty butterflies? I drew them the best I could, and Mummy made them even beautiful-er when she carved them!" She giggled again, letting of her noose-like grip go. She looked up at Neo behind me, beamed at him, and then grabbed my hand.

"You left this for me?" The realisation of who the girl was hit me hard and I gave her a rare, but genuine, smile. Talk about coincidence. She nodded her little head happily. "Thank you. It is beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." She whispered to me, before she grinned back at me "But don't tell Neo I said so. He'll go all Superman on me."

"Sarcey!"

The little girl, who's name was apparently Sarcey, raised her head and waved out over the crowd to the woman not to much older than myself across the walk way. They had the same bright red curls.

"Over here Mummy!" The young woman appeared at her side, and she seemed to relax the moment she recognised Neo. "I think I have to go now." She pouted at me, batting her eyes at me sadly. "Goodbye Trinity." She lent forward to peck me on the cheek. "Goodbye Neo." She said seriously, offering him a hand. He shook it just as seriously, amusement bright in his eyes as she darted beck into the crowd with her mother.

The door behind me opened, and my insides somersaulted as Neo stepped into our room. It wasn't new, I was fairly certain my stomach did that every time I was near him if I bothered to keep track, but it normally wasn't so violent - so _painful_. I set the hairbrush down on the small table beside me. He stepped into my personal space, arms going around my waist again to cover the worst of my scars where his warm skin pressed into mine, the rough fabric of his shirt scratching at my bare skin. He nuzzled his nose against my brain-jack.

"You okay?" He asked. It seemed to be the question of the day.

"Course I am." I nodded. "Headache. I feel tempted to crack my head open on one of the walls, just to get rid of some of the pressure." I pressed my head back into his sternum, letting my eyes close. It wasn't exactly a lie. My head felt like it was splitting in half.

"Well we can't have that, now can we?" He snorted into my ear, warm hands tracing the contours of my body, dropping random kisses on my neck and shoulders as he thumbed the top of the underclothes I'd mustered the energy to pull on. All that energy had drained from me now. "What on earth would I do without you?"

"Probably find yourself another virus to give your life destroying." I offered distastefully, and he bit down on the top of my ear in a mock reprimand. _Replace me_, My brain countered darkly, _with someone less scarred, less cold, more beautiful. _I turned in his hold, tucking myself into his arms as my vision blurred. He'd not see me cry.

"Not funny, Trin."

I shrugged, pushing at him lightly until he sat on the low, narrow bed and perched myself down beside him, before I pushed him down onto his back, following him. I nuzzled into his throat the best I could, attempting to get as close to him as possible, the cold dripping into me now that the heat from my shower had dissipated. I'd been content to fall asleep there and then, to hold and be held, surrounded in his warmth until morning, or my next shift, whichever came first, until he chose the moment to mutter an "I love you." gently in my ear while he turned the pair of us onto our sides, and something inside me snapped.

Pushing down on the footboard with all the strength my freezing feet contained, it sprung me back up until I was the same height as Neo and I wrapped one of my legs around his hip as I dragged him closer to me, twisting my fingers through his hair, as I pulled his mouth down to mine. He kissed me back, twining his hands in my own hair and pulling sharply, an accident I was sure, as he gathered me closer to his chest, his mouth. He nudged at my shoulders until I turned to lie on my back under him on the lumpy mattress, arching off of it and up into him, whimpering into his mouth. I fought against the material of the three thin jumpers he'd pulled on to ward off the particularly chilly air this morning that now just seemed to be little more of a hindrance, scratching up his spine and plugs as I tried to rake the goddamn things off of him, then battle with his shirt; desperate to feel his warm skin against mine as his hands played across my skin, pulling my hips into his and locking my other leg around his waist as well. He groaned back against me and lifted himself away from me, perching himself on his elbows above me. I yelped humiliatingly, attempting to pull him back to me, but he let his head fall down onto my shoulder again.

"You quite alright, Trin?" He asked softly into my hair, concerned, and I reached out and whacked at him across the back.

"Fine, Goddamn you, Neo." I grumbled, dropping my head back into the pillow beneath me, letting my eyes flutter closed momentarily. His eyebrows where raised at me when I opened them again. "I was _fine_, until you stopped. What gives?" I hit him again, slightly harder this time, and bucked up against him. "Neo."

He laughed into my skin again, and traced the path from my hip up to my ribcage. He kissed the aching points on my temple where the pain was slowly leaving me, before he brushed his lips lightly over my eyelids as they dropped closed again, against my wishes, lulled by the warmth of his body over mine.

"You're shaking, Trinity." He told me gently, worry coating his lowering voice. "It's as if you where absolutely bloody freezing, but you're no colder than you normally are. I thought you might be getting sick." I rolled my eyes at him.

"I _am_ freezing." I agreed, as if I could trick myself into believing that that was indeed the reason why I was shaking, and there could be no other alternate reasons behind the violent jolts that spanned through my body. "Isn't that why you're supposed to be warming me up?" He laughed, sinking down to kiss me again, only lightly, as if he was trying to piss me off. I could swear at times he did it on purpose.

"I hate you sometimes." I told him softly, and he laughed at me again. I rolled my hips up into his again regardless, feeling his laugh transform into a grunt against me neck. "I really do." I warned him, and he rolled his eyes, smiling down evilly at me. He knew, and I knew that he knew, that I would never mean it. Yet I pushed up again moments latter, kissing him gently and sneaking up to whimper an "I love you" into his ear again. And his hands came around to clutch at my shoulders, under my neck, and he dragged me back to kiss me. Again.

"I love you, Trinity." He pulled away to tell me.

And I didn't pull him down to kiss him again. I pulled him down to _devour_ him.

To die in him.

Actions


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